Turkey ranks low in environmental index

ISTANBUL-Hürriyet Daily News

Turkey’s environmental protection is getting worse and it draws the world’s attention, according to a nature association official, who released a statement. AA photo

Among 132 countries Turkey ranked at 109th in the 2012 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) released by Yale University.

The Environmental Performance Index is a method of quantifying and numerically benchmarking the environmental performance of a country’s policies.

“We are behind 92 percent of the countries in the index. This is shameful. This index shows that development is not possible with money, construction and dams,” said KuzeyDoğa Nature Association Chairman Dr. Çağan Şekercioğlu.

Şekercioğlu said in our two scientific articles released in Biological Conservation and Science magazines in December, 2011, they wrote about Turkey’s unique natural heritage and noted that our rich natural environment can’t be preserved and has been destroyed.

Unfortunately, the situation is getting worse and Turkey’s bad performance in preserving nature draws the world’s attention, he added in a statement.

The first 10 countries in the index were: Switzerland, Lithuania, Norway, Luxembourg, Costa Rica, France, Austria, Italy, England, and Sweden. Trailing at the bottom of the index were: Libya, Bosnia Herzegovina, India, Kuwait, Yemen, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Iraq.
 
This index was developed from the Pilot Environmental Performance Index, first published in 2002, and designed to supplement the environmental targets set forth in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.